AxSTREAM is a
software suite
A software suite (also known as an application suite) is a collection of computer programs (application software, or programming software) of related functionality, sharing a similar user interface and the ability to easily exchange data with eac ...
designed by SoftInWay Inc. for the conceptual
design of
turbine
A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced can be used for generating electrical ...
s and
compressor
A compressor is a mechanical device that increases the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume. An air compressor is a specific type of gas compressor.
Many compressors can be staged, that is, the gas is compressed several times in steps o ...
s and also thermodynamic calculations
of existing
turbomachinery
Turbomachinery, in mechanical engineering, describes machines that transfer energy between a Rotor (electric), rotor and a fluid, including both turbines and gas compressor, compressors. While a turbine transfers energy from a fluid to a rotor, ...
on-design and off-design operation. The
application area of the AxSTREAM software suite covers the design and
redesign of turbomachinery, and educational fields.
AxSTREAM is used for:
*
Axial turbines
*
Axial compressor
An axial compressor is a gas compressor that can continuously pressurize gases. It is a rotating, airfoil-based compressor in which the gas or working fluid principally flows parallel to the axis of rotation, or axially. This differs from other ...
s
*
Radial turbines
*
Centrifugal compressors
*
Axial fans
*
Blowers
*
Axial-flow pump
An axial-flow pump, or AFP, is a common type of pump that essentially consists of a propeller (an axial impeller) in a pipe. The propeller can be driven directly by a sealed motor in the pipe or by electric motor or petrol/diesel engines mounte ...
s
*
Centrifugal Pump
Centrifugal pumps are used to transport fluids by the Energy transformation, conversion of rotational kinetic energy to the hydrodynamic energy of the fluid flow. The rotational energy typically comes from an engine or electric motor. They are ...
s
*
Turbopumps
While creating a new design, AxSTREAM allows the user to start from
initial inlet and outlet parameters, geometrical constraints, required
mass flow rate
In physics and engineering, mass flow rate is the Temporal rate, rate at which mass of a substance changes over time. Its unit of measurement, unit is kilogram per second (kg/s) in SI units, and Slug (unit), slug per second or pound (mass), pou ...
(capacity) and
rotational speed to perform preliminary
design, 1D/2D calculation and
optimization
Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled ''optimisation'') or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criteria, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfiel ...
. Finally, it develops the
complete flow path geometry including
meridional shapes, profiles, and
IGES model of each blade
airfoil
An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is a streamlined body that is capable of generating significantly more Lift (force), lift than Drag (physics), drag. Wings, sails and propeller blades are examples of airfoils. Foil (fl ...
. As a multidisciplinary tool, AxSTREAM
uses a simplified 1D structural module to check the design in the early
phases during 1D/2D calculation and optimization. At the final stage of
design, AxSTREAM performs 3D structural and vibration analysis to check
the blade. It is also capable of producing a
Campbell Diagram to show
harmful frequencies to the system.
AxSTREAM includes a CFD module to perform 3D calculation of flow in
interblade channels for both separate blade rows and the whole flow
path.
During the optimization of new or existing flow paths, AxSTREAM enables the user:
* To change the geometry "manually" with the help of a user-friendly interface and further analysis in the 1D/2D solver and optimization using the existing infrastructure;
* To optimize the flow path using Design of Experiment methods (DoE).
While making thermodynamic calculations of the existing flow paths, AxSTREAM provides off-design operation characteristics and allows
comparison with the experiment data.
One of AxSTREAM's features is high integration of all software components, which allows users to combine separate phases of design to create a single processing chain. Having designed a flow path, AxSTREAM can export the resulting geometry to CAD/CAE systems (e.g. UGS, Pro-E, SolidWorks, Fluent, AutoCAD, ANSYS CFX,
NUMECA etc.).
External links
AxSTREAM for turbomachinery designPreliminary Design of LP Gas Turbine of Aircraft Enginefro
International Journal of Gas Turbine, Propulsion and Power Systems
{{DEFAULTSORT:Axstream
Industrial design
Industrial computing